#and then threatened the president about it

[thisisnotthenerd]

the rat grinders timeline

after this last episode i feel like i need to clarify all of this so i can get an idea of what the scheme actually is. anyway:

pre-high school:

porter is a scion of the house of cliffbreaker, formerly the house of sunstone, who sought to take the name of ankarna and shift her divine domain from dawn and justice to war and conquest. the house expressed frustration with ankarna for not being willing to strike ruvina or cassandra and after the sundering of the cliffs of calcoth, went into hiding as the cliffbreakers.

porter is nominally a paladin of ankarna, but wishes to take her place as a deity of war and conquest, to be able to strike down cassandra and ruvina.

freshman year:

the high 5 heroes form on the first day of school: kipperlilly copperkettle, lucy frostblade, oisin hakinvar, ivy embra, ruben hopclap, mary ann skuttle.

that same day, the bad kids get detention and face down the corn cuties in the cafeteria. kristen and gorgug die and get brought back by aguefort. jace and porter are the first teachers on the scene; they are established as a duo. may have been attempting to install the rage crystals in kristen and gorgug.

kipperlilly notably doesn't like riz, and feels that the bad kids are getting special treatment. all of the rat grinders have animosity towards the mad kids in some manner.

the high 5 heroes take easy quests that they know they will succeed at.

kalina enters the spy's tongue curse with jace and porter, and is only able to talk about ragh because he was tangential

prompocalypse: kalvaxus falls. yes! is borne in the gym. crown of the nightmare king is stolen. ragh sees arianwen with kalina, then jace and porter and gets kalina transferred into his body via a lay on hands from porter.

sophomore year:

at some point, the high 5 heroes are brought in by jace and porter and start facing high level monsters after they are defeated by porter/jace, thus grinding them for xp.

name change from high 5 heroes to rat grinders--ivy, oisin, ruben, and mary ann for, kipperlilly and lucy against.

lucy is given an mcat for paladin classes so that she might become the champion of ankarna (old)

porter kills "lydia barkrock", likely seeking to release and/or destroy bakur

kalina splits off to raise the nightmare king again, with assistance from angwyn and arianwen abernant. she is defeated and thus unable to work with jace and porter for a time. the nightmare king is apparently integral to the raising of porter as a fetal deity; perhaps as an associated deity, the nightmare king would guide his ascension.

nightmare king is reconstituted as cassandra, championed by kristen applebees.

the rat grinders go on their own spring break quest to the mountains of chaos, presumably to visit the temple of the fallen sun. they are accompanied by jace stardiamond. they do not find the name of ankarna, but likely start establishing the teleportation circle.

after the quest, they are all implanted with the rage crystals and start manifesting more power and anger. this is presumably because they died. and were resurrected.

lucy goes back on the agreement and reaffirms her commitment to ruvina. she withdraws her change of deity paperwork. the rat grinders + porter kill her and bury her in the far haven woods.

porter has correspondence with bobby dawn about collaboration and the potential uses of devil's honey.

mazey phaedra is elected student body president and is given a faculty request to remove the inaugural period of following student body president from the bylaws

summer of the night yorb:

night yorb is released; the bad kids spend the summer chasing down the cult of the night yorb and building the solar lasso. they are out of elmville and generally focused on the red waste

church of sol/helioic church loses followers due to the long night

kipperlilly prepares to run for student body president

the rat grinders request buddy dawn as their replacement cleric

kipperlilly tracks down eugenia shadow and threatens to dig up her grave, after waiting until the first moment of her junior year

ruben writes “in space no one can hear you scream” and it becomes the song of the summer, outcompeting fig and the cig figs. he later writes "get mad!" with porter's advice

the loam family faces embezzlement charges wrt frosty fair and the location of frosty fair (the festival of frost) moves to the thistlespring tree

thistlespring tree is established as a root warden for elmville

the soil is laced with rage crystals

kvx bank changes from red to blue, signaling the presence of oisin's ancestor as their backer

junior year:

aguefort goes on holiday with ayda to the dawn of time (time quangle). gilear goes on holiday with hallariel. this leaves the school in the hands of grix, who was intended to eliminate threats to the school, and jace stardiamond as vice principal. the existing magical protections on the school are still present--they cannot kill mazey and elmville cannot be plane shifted while the AAA is in session.

kipperlilly begins campaigning only to be faced with the ineffable kristen applebees and her campaign manager, the ball

porter refuses gorgug's initial mcat request, hoping to incite rage in him

porter starts taking ambrosia to prepare his body for ascension, using rage to contain himself and not proceed to the afterlife.

the loam family is murdered and their case is dropped

cassandra comes to the astral plane and is trapped and killed. she remains in stasis, surrounding and protecting ankarna

fabian hosts the first party of the year: oisin starts setting his ping-pong ball traps and steals adaine's mephits in order to alter the cloud rider engine. ivy sees fig, transformed as lucy. the bad kids interact with buddy. ankarna pushes yes! through to kristen. gertie, who has been supplying the devil's honey, becomes nemeses with fabian

fig multiclasses as a paladin and is taught by porter--she is encouraged to rage, and pushed away from being a paladin of cassandra.

buddy is also encouraged to become a paladin and gets mcat paperwork

ruben performs at frosty faire and starts the ritual at the thistlespring tree--grix shows up to stop him and is defeated by the bad kids

yolanda badgood follows up with jace about lucy's death--she is brought to the far haven woods and killed. the bad kids find the bodies

the bad kids go to fallinel and find the name of ankarna on the ancient menhirs, and are faced with divine intervention from cassandra and galicaea, unbeknownst to the rat grinders.

they eliminate the curse of the armor of pride and remove bakur from lydia barkrock

fig writes dawn of justice and takes dominion of ankarna's original domain

bobby dawn fails kristen and sends the bad kids to the last stand

kristen catches kipperlilly killing buddy dawn during the last stand

buddy is raised by porter using a rage crystal

rat grinders go to ground, and prepare to go back to the temple of the fallen sun. constant nondetection from ruben, oisin, and possibly ivy

adaine catches jace stardiamond with a scrying into his office

bad kids do teacher evaluations: fig does porter & zara as one instead of two--this gives them the sacred scroll with the name of the intended deity written by the previous deity's champion. zara tells fig one was never submitted for her.

fig writes righteous rebel, makes her oath to ankarna, and releases both songs as singles that rocket up the charts

ruben sees wanda childa die

bad kids go to the temple of the fallen sun and investigate. fig is vindicated about porter.

fig gives the false name (bacharath) to porter and he stuns her in the hall

riz gets into his office and figures out the ascension scheme

the bad kids go to ruben's house and go through the rat grinders' plans

election night: the storm is triggered, the plans for seacaster manor are triggered; cloud rider engine is set and the enchanted ping-pong balls go off. they plan to have oisin's ancestor strike down the bad kids as they make ready to transport elmville during graduation.

the ritual

the ritual is centered on aguefort adventuring academy and requires certain things:

the location where a god was borne (the gym)

the ascending deity (porter), who is a champion of the new domain and has a body prepared for ascension

mortal followers seeking to change the domain/raise ankarna (the rat grinders + jace)

divine attributes of the deity (hammer, armor, etc.)

the writing of the name of the fetal deity on sacred scrolls by the champion of the old deity (fig)

the physical divine domain (elmville, suffused with rage crystals and transported to the astral realm), which requires the removal of the protections on the town that were cast by aguefort

the metaphorical divine domain (ruben's song get mad)

the nightmare king, as an associated deity and the one who would nurture the new deity

and the name of the old deity (ankarna) that they might sunder it and in her image make a new god

[pro-palestine-purdue]

Help Purdue pro-Palestine protestors beat charges for peaceful protesting

Phone Numbers:

(765) 494 - 1250 (Associate Dean of Students)

(765) 494 - 1747 (Office of Dean of Students)

(765) 494 - 1231 (Director of Student Involvement)

(765) 494 - 9708 (Office of the President)

Emails:

jpstefan@purdue.edu (Associate Dean of Students)

osrr@purdue.edu (Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities)

odos@purdue.edu (Dean of Students)

purduepresident@purdue.edu (Office of the President)

Scripts:

google doc with call and email scripts

automated emails to admin

TL;DR:

Pro-Palestine activists have been peacefully protesting Purdue's ties to Israel and calling for a ceasefire by setting up an encampment. Purdue University has been pushing back on this, up to charging 4 Purdue students, one of whom is an international Palestinian student, with Code of Conduct cases. Please contact the above numbers and emails to express your support for these students (especially the Palestinian student), and your disapproval against the university's needless censorship and violation of its own free speech policy!

This is time sensitive, as these student's case dates are coming up, although University administration are still being uncooperative and vague as to concrete times.

Purdue cares about its image, so let it know that its refusal to divest from Israel, and its choice to attack students, is unacceptable and brings shame to this institution.

More details under cut:

Here are two Purdue Exponent (the school's newspaper) articles on the encampment. As the encampment has had minimal police presence or counter-protesting (mainly due to the protesters' peacefulness), it has largely only made local news.

Additionally, if you have Instagram, check out sjppurdue and ydsapurdue. Their recent posts go into more detail on this situation and the encampment.

[odinsblog]

Dear President Shafik,

We write as Jewish faculty of Columbia and Barnard in anticipation of your appearance before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, where you are expected to answer questions about antisemitism on campus. Based on the committee’s previous hearings, we are gravely concerned about the false narratives that frame these proceedings to entrap witnesses. We urge you, as the University president, to defend our shared commitment to universities as sites of learning, critical thinking, and knowledge production against this new McCarthyism.

Rather than being concerned with the safety and well-being of Jewish students on campuses, the committee is leveraging antisemitism in a wider effort to caricature and demonize universities as hotbeds of “woke indoctrination.” Its opportunistic use of antisemitism in a moment of crisis is expanding and strengthening longstanding efforts to undermine educational institutions. After launching attacks on public universities from Florida to South Dakota, this campaign has opened a new front against private institutions.

The prospect of Rep. Elise Stefanik, a member of congress with a history of espousing white nationalist politics, calling university presidents to account for alleged antisemitism on their campuses reveals these proceedings as disingenuous political theater.

In the face of these coordinated attacks on higher education, universities must insist on their freedom to research and teach inconvenient truths. This includes historical injustices and the contemporary structures that perpetuate them, regardless of whether these facts are politically inexpedient for certain interest groups.

To be sure, antisemitism is a grave concern that should be scrutinized alongside racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and all other forms of hate. These hateful ideologies exist everywhere and we would be ignorant to believe that they don’t exist at Columbia. When antisemitism rears its head, it should be swiftly denounced, and its perpetrators held to account. However, it is absurd to claim that antisemitism—“discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews,” according to the Jerusalem Declaration’s definition—is rampant on Columbia’s campus. To argue that taking a stand against Israel’s war on Gaza is antisemitic is to pervert the meaning of the term.

Labeling pro-Palestinian expression as anti-Jewish hate speech requires a dangerous and false conflation of Zionism with Jewishness, of political ideology with identity. This conflation betrays a woefully inaccurate understanding—and disingenuous misrepresentation—of Jewish history, identity, and politics. It erases more than a century of debates among Jews themselves about the nature of a Jewish homeland in the biblical Land of Israel, including Israel’s status as a Jewish nation-state. It dismisses the experiences of the post-Zionist, non-Zionist, and anti-Zionist Jews who work, study, and live on our campus.

The political passions that arise from conflict in the Middle East may deeply unsettle students, faculty, and staff with opposing views. But feeling uncomfortable is not the same thing as being threatened or discriminated against. Free expression, which is fundamental to both academic inquiry and democracy, necessarily entails exposure to views that may be deeply disconcerting. We can support students who feel real and valid discomfort toward protests advocating for Palestinian liberation while also stating clearly and firmly that this discomfort is not an issue of safety.

As faculty, we dedicate ourselves and our classrooms to keeping every student safe from real harm, harassment, and discrimination. We commit to helping them learn to experience discomfort and even confrontation as part of the process of skill and knowledge acquisition—and to help them realize that ideas we oppose can be contested without being suppressed.

By exacting discipline, inviting police presence, and broadly surveilling its students for minor offenses, the University is betraying its educational mission. It has pursued drastic measures against students, including disciplinary proceedings and probation, for infractions like allegedly attending an unauthorized protest, or moving barricades to drape a flag on a statue. Real harassment and physical intimidation and violence on campus must be confronted seriously and its perpetrators held accountable. At the same time, the University should refrain whenever possible from using discipline and surveillance as means of addressing less serious harms, and should never use punitive measures to address conflicts over ideas and the feelings of discomfort that result. Where the University once embraced and defended students’ political expression, it now suppresses and disciplines it.

The University’s recent policies represent a dramatic change from historical practice, and the consequences are ruinous to our community and its principles. In the past, Columbia has periodically confronted attacks against pro-Palestinian speech, ranging from the vile slanders against Professor Edward Said to the reckless accusations from the David Project. But where for decades the University stood firm against smear campaigns targeting its professors, it has now voluntarily accepted the job of censoring its faculty in and outside the classroom.

Columbia’s commitment to free inquiry and robust disagreement is what makes it a world-class institution. Limiting academic freedom when it comes to questions of Israel and Palestine paves the way for limitations on other contested topics, from climate science to the history of slavery. What’s more, students must have the freedom to dissent, to make mistakes, to offend without intent, and to learn to repair harm done if necessary. Free expression is not only crucial to student development and education outside the classroom; the tradition of student protest has also played a vital role in American democracy. Columbia should be proud of having participated in nationwide student organizing that helped secure civil rights and reproductive rights and helped bring an end to the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa.

We express our support for the University and for higher education against the attacks likely to be leveled against them at the upcoming congressional hearing. We object to the weaponization of antisemitism. And we advocate for a campus where all students, Jewish, Palestinian, and all others, can learn and thrive in a climate of open, honest inquiry and rigorous debate.

Many members of our University community share our perspective, but they have not yet been heard. Columbia students, staff, alumni, and faculty can sign here to show your support for this letter’s message.

—Jewish faculty reject the weaponization of antisemitism

The 23 authors of this letter are Jewish faculty members of Barnard College and Columbia University. This letter derives from a much longer one by these same 23 faculty sent to President Shafik on April 5.

[sher-ee]

Starting Topics:

1. Judge Merchan has found Trump in contempt for 9 violations of the gag order in his election interference trial, fining him $1,000 each. He's also been threatened with jail time if he violates the order again. Trump has now violated his pretrial release conditions in all 4 of his criminal cases. He's testing the limits of the court and judicial system because he has no respect for the rule of law. None of this will matter to his supporters in the Republican Party who now view the rule of law as nothing but a speed bump in their path to absolute power.

2. In a new @Time interview, Trump lays out the most brazen, disturbing picture of what a second Trump term would look like yet. He tells Time he would “let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans." When asked if he will pardon every one of the J6 insurrectionists, "absolutely yes." Nothing about Trump is normal and no one should think that he and President Biden are similar candidates. Biden respects the rule of law, individual rights, and democracy. Trump wants to make himself a dictator and destroy America by turning it into a fascist nation.

3. Trump's ongoing criminal trial continues to highlight his weaknesses on a national stage, and he can't slow it any longer. He tried to delay it but now everyone knows about his indiscretions, and his wife hates him. He's humiliated his family, and is sitting in cold courtrooms alone. His dementia is on full display, as he can barely stay awake in the middle of his own trial proceedings. Trump falls asleep in the courtroom because he stays up all night dejected, afraid and all alone. Try as he might, the only person to blame is Donald Trump.

- TLP

Read the Time Magazine interview here:

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Zoë Richards, Dareh Gregorian, and Matt Korade at NBC News:

The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case on Tuesday held the former president in criminal contempt over a series of posts on Truth Social that he said violated a gag order barring any attacks on jurors and witnesses and warned Trump he could be jailed for further violations. Judge Juan Merchan ruled Trump in contempt for nine violations of his gag order, with a fine of $1,000 for each instance. He warned in the decision that he would not tolerate further violations of the order and said "if necessary and appropriate under the circumstances," he would impose "an incarceratory punishment" on the former president. The judge explained that because the fines, which are limited by state law, were relatively little in comparison to Trump's wealth, they might be unlikely to deter the former president from abiding by the court's order. Merchan said that while he would prefer to impose commensurately larger fines, he instead had to consider "whether in some instances, jail may be a necessary punishment." The gag order prohibits the former president from "making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding," and "public statements about any prospective juror or any juror."

Merchan said Tuesday that his order was "lawful and unambiguous," and that Trump violated it with social media posts about witnesses and public comments about jurors. He ordered Trump to remove seven of the posts at issue from his Truth Social account and two other offending posts from his campaign website by 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. The judge also said in response to Trump's complaints about the comments of expected witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels have made outside of court that he might consider modifying the gag order to remove them from its protections if he finds it necessary in the future. Cohen said in a statement in response to the judge's decision that the small fine "is irrelevant. Judge Merchan’s decision elucidates that this behavior will not be tolerated and that no one is above the law.” Merchan had indicated on April 23 that he was not impressed by the arguments from the defense, telling one of Trump's attorneys that he was “losing all credibility” when he suggested that Trump was exercising caution to comply with the gag order.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had accused Trump of violating Merchan's April 1 order at least 10 times since it went into effect, including a post that called expected witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels "sleaze bags." Another appeared to be a quote from Fox News personality Jesse Watters that read, “They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury.” The DA sought the maximum $1,000 fine for each post they considered a violation, along with an order that Trump remove the posts. Prosecutors had also asked Merchan to warn Trump that any future violations could be met with additional fines and up to 30 days in jail.

Judge Juan Manuel Merchan issued a ruling that Donald Trump violated a gag order in the People of New York v. Trump election interference case 9 times for a $9,000 fine ($1,000 fine per violation). Judge Merchan warned that Trump could be jailed if gag order violations continue.

[nelkcats]

Paranormal Department

Something strange was happening in the world, something that even the League would not have prevented. It seemed that the United States government had been fighting things they didn't stand a chance with, and this almost ended in disaster if it wasn't for the kindness of what they were dealing with. The details were highly classified and encrypted so Batman didn't know the details and it was frustrating him.

All that trouble resulted in Justice League Dark working steadily with the "Paranormal Department", there wasn't much information on their members and they worked in the shadows (Bruce wasn't amused, he needed contingency plans) but Zatara claimed they were excellent allies, despite their strange use of modern technology.

Bruce didn't know what they were about, or what agreement the president had made, but he didn't trust this "new department". They could betray them at any second. That's why when Constantine informed him that they would take over the "Lazarus pits" he flatly refused. Apparently his refusal didn't matter at the end since the "Department" got jurisdiction over the case.

Team Phantom, which was now headquartered in downtown Amity Park (and had many new members like Paulina and Dash) was having fun pissing off the Bat. While Danny had made an agreement with the government to deal with threats from the Realms, one of the clauses was not to tell the heroes they existed (After years of living with the Fenton's Danny was not amused that anyone knew ways to eliminate him, Clockwork was backup enough). Sam thought it was childish but didn't stop him.

Sam handled all the legal stuff, but it seemed like they had jurisdiction over all the cases that interested them (more than JL, since they were an elite team in that field), and no one could reveal their identities, which relieved Danny greatly.

Their main job was to send the ghosts home and close the rifts, plus deal with demons, or creatures that came out of said rifts. Easy enough for them, but probably extremely risky if you were inexperienced. Honestly, since they dealt with the GIW themselves, Danny didn't trust the heroes, however JLD was fine.

[foxfinding]

When the worst person you know sends a message like "I think we should never ever speak to each other again."

[kluonora]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THE RIGHT AND ALT RIGHT LOST THE ELECTIONS IN SPAIN LET'S FUCKIN GOOOOOO

[whoviandoodler]

grandma's real bad for my 'don't anger yourself into further digestive disorders' goal

[pop-six-squish]

Getting ready for tomorrow, sharpen the guillotine blades

[llitchilitchi]

I love the copectic (i can't remember how to spell it) us so much. I love the idea of Sam dressing dream up like a doll it's so fun. Do you ever have plans for someone finding out? I wouldn't think Sam would kidnap Michael, but does techno every try to come back and is like "??? Where'd they go??"

Dream being found is probably the most logical conclusion to the spiral. I'm not quite sure by whom - but it makes most sense that Sam plays into Dream's escape, since he does ring the alarms (as far as I remember, Techno got out, Sam and Q looked around only to come back to an empty cell, and Sam rang the alarm) and puts the prison on lockdown. He declares that the prison is empty and sneaks Dream out a few days after the incident.

the news need to spread to make it easier for them to hide in plain daylight.

it does raise the question of Who comes to the island, though. because without a prison escape, and Sam too busy with Dream, there is no reason for him to imprison Ranboo. Who would even have a reason to come to Sam's island, and who would do it with such a push that Sam wouldn't even get the chance to hide his housewife somewhere away from the prying eyes?

but he does get rescued, somehow, eventually

[triple1st]

A COUPLE OF NOTES & EXPANDED CANON ON : ROMANA'S  BACKSTORY  + ASCENSION TO THE SEAT OF LORD PRESIDENT .

the gallifreyan chapterhouse to which romana belongs is somewhat unclear, while the gallifrey audio series (a primary source which informs several key events within romana’s life & how i characterize her) unanimously agrees that she is from the house of heartshaven, it maintains a relation with house (of) dvora, romana openly referring to herself as : “ the inheritor of the house of dvora & the custodian of the house of everston . ” certain gallifreyans in the expanded universe also retain their chapterhouse in their full name, such as quences .  leela was also given a gallifreyan name containing her husband andred's chapterhouse, who belonged to the house of redlooms in the novels, later retconned to the house of deeptree in the audio series .  as such & in keeping with the history of house dvora throughout faction paradox, i've combined romana’s houses of origin into a single backstory .

romanadvoratrelundar was loomed as one of 20 cousins of house dvora, the house of devouring hounds, one of the oldest newblood houses of the prydonian chapter (newblood, essentially, refers to gallifreyans loomed utilizing an updated version of the universal biodata imprint which all looms on gallifrey draw from in order to weave new gallifreyans .  they possess a secondary heart & better control of their regeneration, something romana displays expertly in destiny of the daleks . every couple of centuries, this universal biodata imprint is updated with new genetic information drawn from the matrix as a way to replicate the natural evolutionary process undergone by every other living species, as all gallifreyans are sterile & thus any natural process is forcibly recreated mechanically using rassilon’s gift of technology) .  house dvora was among the most prideful & powerful chapterhouses in the prydonian academy .  it had, for generations now, ruthlessly & efficiently trained its 'children' for the roles of high office within the capitol .  it was infamous for the steel & ice present within the hearts of its members, a result of their upbringing .  impenetrable  ironic & sharp around the edges, all of house dvora’s cousins strove to achieve great things, obtain the unimaginable power granted by gallifrey’s highest office all to make house dvora & their kithriarch proud .

romana was no different, not at first, she was loomed in the generation following morbius, the last successor of house dvora who went on to become lord president of the high council of time lords, only a few years into his presidency .  she shined brightly among her cousins, commanding, beautiful, smart, endless potential following in her path .  romana was considered by the house kithriarch (the head of the household, its caretaker, responsible for the social well-being of each family member) to be dvora’s finest, the only cousin of twenty who would bring great pride to the house & become everything it wanted of her .  however, romana never felt the pride house dvora took in her .  much like her cousins, she was kept under strict expectations, monitored by her mechanical caretakers, pushed to her limits by the voices trapped within the walls of the house, whispering of the great legacy of her ancestors & their disappointment should she ever disobey .  house dvora’s treatment would only worsen when romana showed a streak of compassion for her fellow cousins, helping them out on one of many brain-buffing (teaching, essentially) exercises .  such things are unbecoming of members of house dvora .  like all gallifreyans, they are taught the values of selfishness, to seek only their own interests first & to curb those interests in relation to the house itself .  romana’s behavior was considered a malfunction of the house loom, an error of birth & something the house kithriarch would take personal responsibility to fix .

fortunately, he never got the chace, as this coincided with the imperator crisis, lord president morbius showing his true nature, putting gallifrey on a warpath with the rest of the universe & overthrowing its anti-interventionist policy .  upon his defeat by the alliance formed by the high council & his subsequent trial & execution by the sisterhood of karn, house dvora would devour itself in shame .  shame to have produced such a warmongering tyrant, shame to have brought disaster & ruin to gallifrey, shame to have had its name tarnished by one of its star pupils . romana, along with any surviving cousins who were not present within the walls of their house as it collapsed in on itself, were taken by the prydonian chapter castellan & dispersed among other surviving chapterhouses .  she became a foundling of the house of heartshaven, one of 35 cousins, & her memories of house dvora were lost when her brain-buffing was readjusted for her new home .  heartshaven was a lesser known house whose members became archivists, officials of more mundane offices, keepers of the matrix & even chancellery guards .  she spent a total of fifty years within the walls of heartshaven, only twenty or so within dvora, still the brightest star among her cousins, with her only surviving memories of house dvora being of the cold breeze that passed through its halls, bitting into her skin, knowing it was the house itself trying to make her feel small .  the harsh voice of its kithriarch, the thunder & fury that followed it, the house slamming doors in its wake .  heartshaven, by comparison, was infinitely warmer .  a candle-lit fire, minuscule & never quite enough on its own, but much greater by contrast .  it was through heartshaven that romana later found work as an archivist in the bureau of ancient records, a library within the capitol which kept volumes of gallifreyan history dating back to the dark times .

the legacy of house dvora would follow romana into the prydonian academy & into the early days of her presidency . the reputation of dvora’s cousins as cold & untouchable landing her the nickname of 'the ice maiden' (probably less gendered in the original gallifreyan language, given that in the expanded universe gallifreyans are generally portrayed to be either genderless or ambiguous) .  she would try disprove these notions, rebel against them, befriend her classmates, sartia among them whom romana considered her best friend only to realize sartia's hatred for her upon being reunited during her travels with the doctor . she found that the time lord academy itself encouraged her to curb her compassion, fend only for herself as to survive as the sole victor among its pupils .  it would only be upon her travels with the doctor that romana’s compassion & care would be allowed to bloom, gifted another perspective beyond that of rigid gallifreyan socialization .  it was a perspective she would later want to impart upon her fellow time lords, wanting them to see the universe as she does, not just coldly observe but to covet & care for all that which gallifrey deems beneath itself & why when she returned to her home planet, romana found herself a seat on the high council & ascended to the office of lord president . though she would never admit it, having travelled with the doctor certainly helped her political prospects, given he left the presidency vacant on multiple occasions despite the time lords insisting upon it . through assassination plots, bids for immortality & one brief stint in office the doctor was unwilling to fulfill his duties, he proved he could never be trusted . who better then than a time lord that had been his travelling companion ?

her enemies in the high council, however, insisted upon romana's inheritance as an argument against her inauguration . that the malfunction in the breeding engines that led to morbius' ascendancy meant all of house dvora's children were tainted & to allow any one of its survivors his power would be tantamount to suicide . though other more conservative elements within the capitol considered the prospect of romana's presidency a return to form, despite the risk that morbius' legacy lives on within her . he understood the power gallifrey held over the universe . at every step of the electoral process romana stressed that she was more of heartshaven than dvora, that everything house dvora represented died when the house sunk into the ground in shame & anguish & that she was defined by her adoptive house more than anything . it's what she wanted to believe, of course, that she was no tyrant & nothing of morbius survived through her or any other of dvora's lost children, but it was never the imperator romana should have feared . morbius lived on through history, through his cult & its adherents, pandora was erased from time itself & she would come to define the first term of romana's presidency, plunging gallifrey into a second civil war .

[kitaychan]

The week before elections really is a shit show here huh

[nv-alexander]

I just need to vent some Fear fear fear

[possible-eldritch-catboy]

man I absolutely Knew my dad would end up falling head first for the zionist propaganda so it wasn't even Remotely worth tryna talk to him about current affairs but it is so goddamn frustrating to be proven right... 🙃

I tried to talk to him about the state of palestine Years back (somewhere around 2018-19 I think) and admittedly I didn't have all the facts then but I could tell I was fighting a losing battle even then facts or no facts because my dad's too busy sucking israel's dick to care when human beings are being subjugated, or even consider that maybe israel Could be in the wrong here. add all the propaganda being shoved down his throat rn and I just know he ended up saying death to palestine with his whole chest. absolute joke of a family I'm in man.

[diamondsunbursts-and-marblehalls]

The first real conversation Katniss has with Peeta is when he tells her that he wants to die as himself, that he doesn't want the games to change him into something he's not, and that he wants to keep his identity and prove he's more than just a piece in their games because that's the only thing he has left to care about.

The first time we see Lucy Gray she sings a song that basically says that nothing they could take from her was worth keeping. "Can't take my past. Can't take my history... You can't take my charm. You can't take my health."

The capitol has taken everything from them both, but at the same time, they could never take away who they are.

They are both likeable charismatic and funny, with the kindest hearts, and incredibly loyal to the people they care about.

At the same time, everything they do before the games, and during is calculated. Lucy Gray singing a love song and winning the hearts of the capitol. Peeta confesses he's in love with his district partner, therefore cementing her identity as desirable. Both of them know how to sway people with words, how to charm people, and how to manipulate crowds. Neither of them has any problem doing so to keep themselves, and the people they love safe.

Lucy Gray's song The Old Therebefore, about learning how to love and live her life to the fullest before death, a final and calculated stroke in a last-ditch effort to save herself from the arena. This evokes enough emotion in the watchers to get them to rise to their feet and plead for her life alongside Snow.

Snow, watching the 74th and preparing for the 75th Hunger Games sees Lucy Gray in Katniss. A young girl, from the 12th district. Unafraid at the reaping. Selling a false love story, manipulating a boy who loves her in order to get out and supporting the revolution with the mockingjay as her symbol.

He threatens her family to get her to sell that she and Peeta are in love, to prevent the revolution, because obviously, she's pretending. He's had experience with a girl just like her before. He has no doubt that she has the acting ability to sell this story because clearly, she manipulated the first Hunger Games in her favor, the same way Lucy Gray manipulated him.

Watching the interviews for the 75th Hunger Games he realizes-

Katniss is just an impulsive girl, in a Mockingjay dress she didn't know about, made by someone who supports the revolution.

Peeta is a boy who has the ability to move people with just his words. He made Katniss desirable, he was the one who sold the love story, and he was the one to make their romance seem real. Katniss only started the revolution because she would rather risk dying with him than live without him. A concept President Snow was completely unfamiliar with. And it is with all these realizations crashing around him Peeta drops the baby bomb. He knows the baby's not real, and so does Snow. But it evokes enough emotion in the watchers to get them to rise to their feet and plead for the lives of the tributes.

Is it Lucy Gray or Peeta?

By the time Snow realizes he's made a mistake, it's too late.

Peeta is still charming and manipulating the capitol. Katniss is in love.

He goes up against a kindhearted boy expecting to beat Sejanus again, only to find out that it's Lucy Gray he's fighting; knowing he will never be able to escape their ghosts.

-from a conversation i had with @grandtyphoonpoetry breaking down every character in the hunger games.